REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness
Abstract Background Animal studies established that the locus coeruleus (LC) plays important roles in sleep and wakefulness regulation. Whether it contributes to sleep variability in humans is not yet established. Here, we investigated if the in vivo activity of the LC is related to the variability...
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| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Biomedical Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-025-01127-9 |
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| author | Nasrin Mortazavi Puneet Talwar Ekaterina Koshmanova Roya Sharifpour Elise Beckers Alexandre Berger Islay Campbell Ilenia Paparella Fermin Balda Ismael Dardour Hamzaoui Christian Berthomier Christine Bastin Christophe Phillips Pierre Maquet Fabienne Collette Mikhail Zubkov Laurent Lamalle Gilles Vandewalle |
| author_facet | Nasrin Mortazavi Puneet Talwar Ekaterina Koshmanova Roya Sharifpour Elise Beckers Alexandre Berger Islay Campbell Ilenia Paparella Fermin Balda Ismael Dardour Hamzaoui Christian Berthomier Christine Bastin Christophe Phillips Pierre Maquet Fabienne Collette Mikhail Zubkov Laurent Lamalle Gilles Vandewalle |
| author_sort | Nasrin Mortazavi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Animal studies established that the locus coeruleus (LC) plays important roles in sleep and wakefulness regulation. Whether it contributes to sleep variability in humans is not yet established. Here, we investigated if the in vivo activity of the LC is related to the variability in the quality of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Methods We assessed the LC activity of 34 healthy younger (~ 22y) and 18 older (~ 61y) individuals engaged in bottom-up and top-down cognitive tasks using 7-Tesla functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). We further recorded their sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) to evaluate associations between LC fMRI measures and REM sleep EEG metrics. Results Theta oscillation energy during REM sleep was positively associated with LC response in the top-down task. In contrast, REM sleep theta energy was negatively associated with LC activity in older individuals during the bottom-up task. Importantly, sigma oscillations power immediately preceding a REM sleep episode was positively associated with LC activity in the top-down task. Conclusions LC activity during wakefulness was related to REM sleep intensity and to a transient EEG change preceding REM sleep, a feature causally related to LC activity in animal studies. The associations depend on the cognitive task, suggesting that a balanced level of LC tonic activity during wakefulness is required for optimal expression of REM sleep. The findings may have implications for the high prevalence of sleep complaints reported in aging and for disorders such as insomnia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease, for which the LC may play pivotal roles through sleep. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a32e863ea128473b97c1e2dacd742036 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1423-0127 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Biomedical Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-a32e863ea128473b97c1e2dacd7420362025-08-20T03:01:41ZengBMCJournal of Biomedical Science1423-01272025-03-0132111310.1186/s12929-025-01127-9REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulnessNasrin Mortazavi0Puneet Talwar1Ekaterina Koshmanova2Roya Sharifpour3Elise Beckers4Alexandre Berger5Islay Campbell6Ilenia Paparella7Fermin Balda8Ismael Dardour Hamzaoui9Christian Berthomier10Christine Bastin11Christophe Phillips12Pierre Maquet13Fabienne Collette14Mikhail Zubkov15Laurent Lamalle16Gilles Vandewalle17GIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègePhysipGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeGIGA-Institute, CRC-Human Imaging, University of LiègeAbstract Background Animal studies established that the locus coeruleus (LC) plays important roles in sleep and wakefulness regulation. Whether it contributes to sleep variability in humans is not yet established. Here, we investigated if the in vivo activity of the LC is related to the variability in the quality of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Methods We assessed the LC activity of 34 healthy younger (~ 22y) and 18 older (~ 61y) individuals engaged in bottom-up and top-down cognitive tasks using 7-Tesla functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). We further recorded their sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) to evaluate associations between LC fMRI measures and REM sleep EEG metrics. Results Theta oscillation energy during REM sleep was positively associated with LC response in the top-down task. In contrast, REM sleep theta energy was negatively associated with LC activity in older individuals during the bottom-up task. Importantly, sigma oscillations power immediately preceding a REM sleep episode was positively associated with LC activity in the top-down task. Conclusions LC activity during wakefulness was related to REM sleep intensity and to a transient EEG change preceding REM sleep, a feature causally related to LC activity in animal studies. The associations depend on the cognitive task, suggesting that a balanced level of LC tonic activity during wakefulness is required for optimal expression of REM sleep. The findings may have implications for the high prevalence of sleep complaints reported in aging and for disorders such as insomnia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease, for which the LC may play pivotal roles through sleep.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-025-01127-9Locus coeruleusSleep7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imagingAging |
| spellingShingle | Nasrin Mortazavi Puneet Talwar Ekaterina Koshmanova Roya Sharifpour Elise Beckers Alexandre Berger Islay Campbell Ilenia Paparella Fermin Balda Ismael Dardour Hamzaoui Christian Berthomier Christine Bastin Christophe Phillips Pierre Maquet Fabienne Collette Mikhail Zubkov Laurent Lamalle Gilles Vandewalle REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness Journal of Biomedical Science Locus coeruleus Sleep 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging Aging |
| title | REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness |
| title_full | REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness |
| title_fullStr | REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness |
| title_full_unstemmed | REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness |
| title_short | REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness |
| title_sort | rem sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness |
| topic | Locus coeruleus Sleep 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging Aging |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-025-01127-9 |
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